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Hugh Jackman talks about his Oscar hosting gig…

With Oscar night a week away, I’m getting really curious about what first-time host Hugh Jackman is going to bring to the festivities.

Hugh, a three-time host of the Tony Awards, talked with the Associated Press on Friday about the show:

“Celebration is the key,” he said. “I’m certainly going to have a good time. If I’m not going to have a good time, how the hell is anybody else?”

He was asked to compare the Tonys to the Oscars: ” The Oscars is obviously a very different beast. There’s a lot of hype. There’s so much anticipation. … I chatted with Steve Martin on the phone who gave me some great tips. The first five or six minutes you’re going to have possibly the best audience you’ve ever had in your life, because all of them know they’re going be on camera at any moment, none of them have lost yet and they’re all sort of generally ready for a good time. He said from that point on, just move it on quickly. Just be quick.

Hugh dropped a few hints including a more “intimate” look for the ceremony’s home, the Kodak Theatre. “The look of the theater is very different. It’s more like the nightclub of your dreams. It’s very intimate. … It’s got to be a lot closer. It’s been a little austere in the past. You know, there’s that stage, the host being up above the stalls, looking down at everybody. … But this is a lot more intimate. It’s still spectacular, being in the Kodak Theatre. But it’s a real difference in the way things are laid out.
“…There’s 24 awards; you can’t change that,” he added. “But I think Oscars could do a little more of the show in show biz. I think there’s been a little too much business.

Hugh also said he is rooting for the late Heath Ledger to win best supporting actor for “The Dark Knight” which seems a lock anyway.

“I can’t hide the fact that I would really love for that honor to be bestowed upon him,” Jackman said of his fellow Australian. “It would be fitting and I think he deserves it.”